spotted in the city: white balls and wilson

White washed: I was pleasantly surprised on my first trip out to play tennis this spring when I opened the can of Wilson balls I had just bought at Paragon Sports in Union Square to find the balls were white. Oh! So this is how these babies used to look?My playing partner and I noticed no real difference in the sight of the ball as we hit, but it was certainly fun to feel a little throwback on day one of “spring training.”

Buy: On the Tennis Hall of Fame website for a true throw-back feel, $6/canSeptember comes in April: Paragon also had U.S. Open merch out for perusal. Of this kit, nothing caught our eye (are these leftovers from last year?). But the Open Shop is up and running, and we’re kind of digging the $59.99 ball boy shorts, marked down from $125. This might be the perfect time to get 2010 stuff marked way down.